I doubt many people know this story but back in the mid to late 80s there was compression program called ARC. It functioned similar to WinZip or WinRAR by taking a bunch of files, compressing them and bundling them up into a single file which made it easier to send across a modem and also take less time and therefore less money. It was THE standard. Everywhere you’d go there would be .ARC files.
At some point a new program came out called PKARC. It was faster than ARC, much faster and it became very popular for dealing with .ARC files. The company that made ARC, called SEA (System Enhancement Associates) sued the PKARC guys. They claimed that the file format for .ARC files was copyright them and that the PKARC guy was not allowed to copy it. SEA sued the PKARC guy and won. So, the PKARC guy made a new format called .ZIP, it compressed better then .ARC and within a few months .ARC files were a thing of the past, .ZIP files became the standard and SEA pretty much disappeared. Everyone was happy because some little guy, Phil Katz of PKZIP, showed some evil corporation SEA what for.
At least that’s what I thought the truth was. I believe that’s what most people believe. Today I saw this 20min documentary about it. Wow, was I wrong.
Really don’t remember much of the story, especially the part involving SEA. But I have clear remembrances of the news around Phil Katz’ death, a few years ago… and it wasn’t exactly the obituary of a successful, happy man… Memory’s blurry and it’s decidedly too hot today to go on a google quest, but I seem to recall he was terminally alcoholic, penniless and died rather prematurely…
Yea, well, he had like nearly 100% of the market from probably 1988-1992 but the lost it all to WinZip because he was 2 or 3 years late in getting a Windows version out and when he finally did it sucked. Now of course WinZIP is fading although slower than PKZIP or ARC did. Mostly from WinRAR and 7zip.
Interestin’ little documentary. I feel sorry for Thom getting a buttload of hate-mail, he seemed pretty shook about it.
“Now of course WinZIP is fading although slower than PKZIP or ARC did. Mostly from WinRAR and 7zip.”
I think WinZIP is fading because ZIP compression is now built into Windows XP. No need to buy a stand-alone ZIP program. In any event, very interesting little documentary. Two thumbs up.
A shame. Really. Although most of this is before my time, lol, it shows that engineers have a problem. If facts where the end all, be all we wouldn’t have a problem. The fact of the matter is that the world doesn’t work that way. Most people won’t let a little logic get in their way. Being in the process of becoming an engineer, I understand this and know of my limits in illogical reasoning. That’s why I believe all companies, even small ones, should have at least one PR person. I can’t think of ever starting a business without one. The second thing is to take what they say into account, no matter how illogical. That’s the hard part.
One thing that was left open in the documentary was Thom’s statement, “Then they started the hate mail campaign.” At this point he practically breaks down in tears. I do not think he was referring to Katz – he was talking about the mob-mentality BBS users. I hope people take away from that story the effect mass hate has on those who just want to do good things. Thom was obviously crushed, sold the entire company, and retreated to what he later called, “a lifetime away”.
Why is the world filled with so many envious haters?